Pretty Girls Make Graves @ The Casbah
Hailing from Seattle, and signing to a legendary West Coast punk label, is a good way for a band to start out of the gate – coming from the creative and self-supporting Seattle music community, the members of Pretty Girls Make Graves did time in respected Pacific Northwest bands such as Death Wish Kids, Area 51, Kill Sadie and Murder City Devils. Although only active for little over a year, the interest and support that has surrounded them upon first mention of their formation was overwhelming based on their pedigree of previous bands. Now, signed to Lookout Records, they are poised to make a significant impact on the nationwide punk community. But PGMG are not ones to rest on their laurels - they are out to create and perform dynamic, compelling and powerful music. “While many musicians outgrow the rough and furious genre of punk, one thing that makes PGMG so special is that the musicians involved honed their playing for many years before returning to reinvent what they initially loved about punk music.” Cobra High and The Business Lady open.

tickets $12 online or on sale at Off the Record

JC Chasez @ Spreckels Theatre
JUST KIDDING!!! Cultivatelife is an organization committed to promoting only the best in cutting-edge, underground art, film and music with artistic integrity and merit. So, while we define ourselves through the music we do love and promote, an equally important aspect in defining our newsletter and its message is also deciding on what music we do NOT promote. If that means fighting the good fight and letting our voice be heard in any way possible, even in the form of a childish, yet well-composed rant against some of the trash that passes for music these days, then so be it.

In a world full of cookie-cutter, Clear Channel-monopolized radio, over-produced, generic, label-influenced pop music, and impersonal, overpriced, overblown, lip-synched Ticketmassa events, the line between actual music, and performance art with background muzak is becoming disturbingly blurred. Throw some T&A together with a Neptunes beat, and you’ve got a hit these days! Hey – did you hear Paris Hilton is coming out with a pop record? Does this surprise anyone? It shouldn’t – no more so than the fact that one of the group members from a boy band thinks that he can justify a solo career without banging or marrying a pop princess, doing a reality show, or getting Punk’d for the added media boost. It’s such a screwed-up market - how many of the guys who jack off to pictures of Britney half-naked in Rolling Stone would actually buy her record? And conversely, how many of the teenage girls who made Britney or Christina what they are today, would even be allowed by their parents to buy their new record? Who the hell is this diluted music appealing to exactly?

An interview with Rolling Stone recently showed that Britney doesn’t even know the names to her own songs! Does this surprise anybody? The writer asked her what her favorite track off her new record is, and she said something to the effect of “the one with Moby – Up All Night or something like that.” What? It’s YOUR song! It’s allegedly your favorite? And you don’t even know the name of it? Another new Britney song features the lines “My sex drive…my shopping spree…” Then, in another interview, Spears goes on to say that she’s nothing like that in real life, that she doesn’t want her sexuality to sell her music, and she doesn’t even like shopping that much. Wait - didn’t we just see your bare ass on the cover of Esquire? Didn’t we just watch you french Madonna? You don’t like shopping? HUH? But didn’t you just write a song about both? Again – IT’S YOUR SONG! Why are you writing about something you have no interest in? Aren’t lyrics supposed to be from your heart, representative of your own personal feelings and opinions? Not in the pop business. Someone else wrote that shit for her, slapped her tits and ass, and her name on it, and we’re supposed to accept this as art, as a viable piece of music. It doesn’t take a genius to connect the dots – these people are puppets. This isn’t music. This is Maxim, with audio. This is a stripper routine, with Moby on the tracks instead of Warrant. And for an extra $50, you don’t even get a TJ reach-around – you get to see Britney lip-synch all of her hits from a half-mile away!

It’s bad enough that teachers and social workers – the people who nurture, educate, and attempt to repair our children’s young, impressionable minds – get paid next to nothing, while musicians and athletes make all the millions and are considered the heroes and idols of our society – now, the people gaining all this money and fame, usually aren’t even singing, let alone creating their own work! What the hell kind of bizarro world have we stepped in to? Why are these performers being advertised to adults? Why aren’t they all on the Disney channel where they belong? Who, of the 24-40 age bracket, is going to buy a Nick Lachey album? Who is seriously going to pay hard-earned money - money earned actually working, not pretending to do so, or hiring someone else to do it for us – to see JC Chasez?

The only one that has the right idea in the pop music world is Justin Timberlake – and that’s because he realized he has to prove some kind of artistic merit if he has any chance of surviving. OK, so he plays guitar and piano, and writes his own songs – at least he can call himself a musician without laughing. But hey – Nick, JC, Britney, Christina, Jessica, Mandy, Hillary, Avril – go ahead and keep putting out lip-synched, pre-written bubble-gum crap – but please, peddle it to the freakin’ junior high kids, not the adults, OK?

AK1200 @ Brick by Brick/Dragon Lounge – See Weeklies/Monthlies Section

TSOL/Suicide Machines @ Soma
A punk rawk free-for-all at Soma!!! When T.S.O.L. blasted onto the Orange County punk explosion in 1979 with white face paint and blazing punk anthems, they were automatically a force to be reckoned with. They began supporting heavyweights like The Damned and The Dead Kennedy’s in big cities like LA and San Francisco. By the summer of ’81, the band released their highly anticipated debut “Dance With Me,” which propelled the band to the highest echelon of Southern California punk status, and enabled them to headline heavy shows with bands like Bad Religion, Social Distortion and the Adolescents opening for them. It was at this time when the band was featured in the motion picture “Suburbia,” a stark semi-documentary on the punk scene of early ‘80s Orange County. The band appeared both in the film and on the film’s soundtrack. But with their enormous popularity, and their incessant touring, the band started to splinter. After the departure of several band mates, and their subsequent regression into a more primitive punk sound that quickly stagnated and alienated fans, the band has been on-again-off-again, with this being their first reunion in ten years. But, the SoCal hardcore are ready to welcome TSOL back with open arms! The skunk band the Suicide Machines was formed in Detroit, Michigan around 1990. Originally called Jack Kevorkian And The Suicide Machines, their original lineup broke up before they could break. In 1995, the newly named Suicide Machines teamed up with Rancid for a shared CD, “Skank For Brains,” released on Beach Records. By now regarded as one of the brightest stars on the alterna-ska scene, Suicide Machines was snapped up by Hollywood Records. Their major label debut, “Destruction By Definition,” followed in 1996. A heady rush of ska-influenced punk, the album was hailed as one of best of the year, and the band promoted the record with a relentless touring schedule, including a prominent slot on the Warped Tour. This tour has featured the Queers as the headliners on all other US dates – no information could be found as to why the legendary Queers will not play San Diego. But, in their place are Off the Wall, Death by Stereo, Western Waste, and Audio Karate.

tickets $13 online

Donald Glaude @ On Broadway
Donald Glaude has done nothing but good things for club life across the country this year. His unique blend of bangin’ techno and high-impact house always gets the room rockin’, and he has brought the techno sound to the stateside masses like no other. His mixing and programming are second-to-none, and he incorporates jaw-dropping scratching skills into his sets that leave most trainspotters dizzy. He has spent most of this year doing the Pornstar Ball parties with Spundae – the Vivid Video vixens come to dance, gyrate, and pour water on themselves, while Glaude slams techno and works the room into a frenzy with his witches brew of skull-fucking treats. Glaude has always shown much love to the West Coast – he is a regular at the Southern California massives, and always finds time to drop by for a club night. Techno and porn stars – everyone should thank this man for making our clubbing world a much better place.

tickets $15 at door

Lisa Lashes @ L5
Lisa Lashes was – and is – the UK hard house queen! Her and Anne Savage championed high-BPM house across the globe around the turn of the millennium, when rave and club culture first began to collide and fully integrate. Not as cheesy as happy hardcore, but not as serious as techno, UK hard house helped the pill-popping massive to find a home in clubland. While most peeps have been giving their neurotransmitters a break in recent years, and trance and hard house have been limited to either clubs in the burbs or 9AM crackholes, Lisa Lashes is one jet-setter that continues to pack the prime spaces while unapologetically sticking to her trademark high-octane sound. As jaded as the EDM world might be on hard house, Lisa Lashes is one person that makes cheddar seem like a delicacy. So leave your chin-scratching shoes at home and come ready to jack! Jon Bishop opens.

Dwele w/ Slum Village @ 4th & B
Dwele and Slum Village are part of the new breed of neo-soul coming out of Detroit that has already prompted talk of a new MoTown in D-Town. His sound flows freely from smooth jazz, to street-influenced hip-hop, to smoky café soul with the greatest of ease. “Dwele's universe is one where the R&B, spoken word, jazz and hip-hop landscapes collide to create a singular genre. Dwele's boundless vocal prowess, meticulous musicianship and clever songwriting skills challenge the best of the best. Imagine a producer/singer/instrumentalist schooled by hearty helpings of Marvin Gaye, Donnie Hathaway and Stevie Wonder, yet still influenced by the raw street artistry of hip-hop like A Tribe Called Quest. As a former rapper, Dwele might have the trademark underground-hip hop swagger but this self-described "old soul" possesses a heartfelt sultriness and sensuality that's been missing from R&B since the 70's.”

tickets $17.50 ($20 day of) online or on sale at 4th & B ticket window

Crystal Method @ L5
Remember when Prodigy, the Chemical Brothers and Crystal Method were incessantly driven down our throats by MTV in the mid-nineties? What caused all those record executives to try and push electronic music as the next big thing in stateside popular culture? What made them believe it would catch on? Was it the overseas success of UK acid-rock bands like New Order and the Happy Mondays? Couldn’t be – they tried to push imitators like Jesus Jones and EMF on us, and they all failed miserably. Could it have been the fledgling underground rave culture that was just setting its roots in warehouses across the US at that time? Maybe. But doubtful – even after the ecstasy boom of the late 90s and the flourishing of US club life that resulted, most commercial media outlets still haven’t totally cashed in on the rise of EDM culture in the US. (Unless you count Oakenfold, but hey – he thought he was Jesus Christ long before he broke in the States) Outside of Chicago, New York and Detroit, where house and techno were being born and raised at that time, electronic music was virtually unknown in the US. For about six months, you heard about electronic acts being the next big thing, then suddenly, the silence was deafening, and the music went (briefly) back underground, where it was embraced by the growing rave scene, just before electronic culture exploded at the end of the millenium. Who knows where we would be right now if EDM had grown into the commercial media’s adopted son like grunge did? Would we even be talking about EDM as an underground musical genre if Cybersonik had actually materialized? Maybe Hawtin and Bell saw the potential for the dilution of their work and comprising of artistic integrity that inevitably comes with whoring yourself and your music to the mainstream media – they have both remained legends of the underground, and Plastikman is again king. But – Underworld, Chemical Brothers, and Crystal Method still have reps for putting on some of the loudest, most intense shows in the business – they might be catering to arenas full of underage second-generation rave babies, but at least their quality has not suffered (like Oakey’s has!)

The LA-by-way-of-Vegas electronic duo Crystal Method were the US ying to the Chemical Brother’s UK yang during the late 90s EDM movement, which pushed electronic acts almost as rock groups, complete with stadium tours and videos. Inspired by the early 90s LA rave scene, Crystal Method’s sound fuses 70s funk and disco samples with dense arrangements of loops, bombastic break beats and funky basslines filled with startling crescendos and unexpected drops. They have brought their sound from dirty Southern California warehouses to giant arenas, and still manage to drop jaws with their live performances.

tickets $20 online or on sale at Off the Record and CSL

Phunk Junkeez @ Brick by Brick **CANCELED**
The Phunk Junkees are rap-rock pioneers, and true purveyors of the underground. “Back when Bank One Ballpark was The Silver Dollar Club, illegal warehouse parties were thrown in abandoned buildings in the stagnant Phoenix industrial parks, and raves were still just called parties, The Phunk Junkeez proved and still continue to prove their notoriety as the kings of the underground music scene.” The crew still throws underground parties - breaking into warehouses, bringing some kegs, and throwing down! Showcasing their original mélange of trip-hop, punk, and hardcore from their new album “Rock It Science,” the Junkeez bring the noise to the Brick by Brick for what looks to be a phat paw-tay.

Rancid @ Soma
Rancid earns its way into Cultivate due to their history and influence, and not for Tim Armstrong’s pretty obvious recent attempt at selling records in the cookie-cutter radio and MTV world. First, writing and producing tracks for Pink doesn’t do much for your punk-rock credibility (although it probably does wonders for hers!) Then, to go the Green Day or Good Charlotte route and put out a record (“Indestructible”) for the jock-strap massive – c’mon Tim! You were a part of one of the most revolutionary, revered punk bands in history! Operation Ivy was to skunk what Minor Threat was to hardcore! Op Ivy was decades ahead of their time, with their perfect fusion of punk and ska, hardcore and reggae. They combined two seemingly dead styles in the late 80s, to produce a sound unparalleled in its energy, and profound in its influence. Their lyrics spoke out against racial tension, and oppression of the working classes, and they continue to have a powerful effect on nearly every ska and punk band today. They broke up on New Years Eve 1988, on the brink of massive national success, amidst cries of "sellout" from their loyal fans. (See the write-up on Vagrant Records from last month’s Cultivate) After the breakup, Armstrong and Brett Freeman eventually formed Rancid, while Jesse and the others faded into punk rock legend. (Although there are rumors that Jesse has a new band, which would be very interesting to check out) Rancid continued to be a mainstay in the late 90s underground punk rock world – signed to Epitaph, headlined Warped Tour several years, and still managed to keep their credibility with the underground, even through the forgettable “Out Come the Wolves,” the follow-up to their breakthrough album “Let’s Go.” Their self-titled 2000 release was a return to their hardcore roots, a jagged, aggressive onslaught of over 20 minute-and-a-half punk rawk songs. So why try and sell out now? F-Minus and Tiger Army open.

tickets $16.50 online

Human Nature - rental
Directed by Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)

An adaptation of Charlie Kaufman's script produced by Spike Jonze, the duo behind Being John Malkovich, Human Nature could only mean an odd hurlyburly film. Only halfway successful since director Michel Gondry makes a hirsute comedy led by a solid cast that nonetheless loses its breath over the length of the film.

Tim Robbins is Nathan Bronfman, a researcher obsessed with good manners whose project is "to civilize" a wild man, Puff (Rhys Ifans). Patricia Arquette plays Nathan's girlfriend Lila Jute, an abnormally hairy woman who is divided between her desire of normality and her true nature.

As understood, the film is constructed around two antagonisms: that of the nature and civilization found in Puff and the human nature and appearance that affects Lila. While Human Nature clearly pokes fun at modern civilization, it is not however a humanistic fable. Nathan symbolizes the superficial character of modern society. His definition of the perfect man—erudite, cultured and refined—quickly turns out to be a tedious snobbery that cannot truly serve as a model. On the other hand, the final twist also shows that utopia is not a solution but rather a lure for the naive. Far from preaching a return to nature, Human Nature opts instead for an adaptation of society's mold without erasing the cave man that lies dormant in us.

While the film has without any doubt the touch of madness that seems to characterize Charlie Kaufman's work, it is neither as cerebral nor as original as Being John Malkovich. The topics tackled were already treated in films as diverse as Truffaut's Wild Child, Todd Brownings' Freaks or the unpalatable The Loss of Sexual Innocence by Mike Figgis. The movie also seems to surf the current wave of vulgar American films. One thinks of the Farrelly Brothers or American Pie.

Human Nature also sins by a deceleration of rhythm halfway through. In his first directing effort, Michel Gondry—a defector of music video (Bjork, Daft-Punk, Rolling Stones, IAM.) and advertising (Nike, Gap, Coke) who is rather accustomed to fast editing following musical rhythm, fails to sustain the audience's attention in the less "glorious" moments. It fact it succeeds better in wacky or explosive scenes. The four main actors know how to spice up an already spicy script. Their performance is a treat and makes the most insane moments even more delectable. One can only admire the naturalness of Patricia Arquette and Rhys Ifans who say their wacky lines naked. One Arquette deserves to be saluted for taking risks antipodal to the usual Hollywood path. Ifans, of Notting Hill fame, confirms his stature as the crank of current cinema. Tim Robbins does not deprive himself either while Miranda Otto is a perfect false ingenue.

Human Nature is perhaps not a total success but it deserves to be seen for its daring in such a soft cinematic landscape.

21 Grams @ Landmark Theaters (drama)
Amores Perros director Alejandro González Iñárritu explores the emotionally and physically charged existences of three people—a college professor (Sean Penn), wife and mother (Naomi Watts), and struggling ex-con (Benicio Del Toro of Traffic). An accident unexpectedly throws their lives and destinies together, in a story that will take them to the heights of love, the depths of revenge, and the promise of redemption. If spiritual equilibrium is to be regained by one of them, it could come at great cost to the others.

Winner of four awards at the 2003 Venice Film Festival
+view trailer

Tibet Cry of the Snow Lion @ Landmark Theaters (documentary)
Director Tom Peosay journeyed throughout Tibet, India and Nepal over a period of ten years to bring audiences to the long-forbidden "rooftop of the world"—from rarely-seen rituals in remote monasteries, to horse races with Khamba warriors; from brothels and slums in the holy city of Lhasa, to magnificent Himalayan peaks still traveled by nomadic yak caravans. Dark secrets of Tibet's recent past are chronicled through personal stories, interviews, undercover and archival images never before assembled in one documentary. Narrated by Martin Sheen with voiceovers by Ed Harris, Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon.

Winner of Best Documentary at the 2003 Santa Barbara Film Festival


Mystic River @ Fashion Valley 18; Horton Plaza 14 (murder mystery)
Clint Eastwood's somber meditation on chance, fate, doom; scarred souls and endless repercussions; violence begetting violence. Just as Unforgiven was an act of penance for the body counts in his Sergio Leone spaghetti Westerns as well as in his self-directed imitation Leones (High Plains Drifter, The Outlaw Josey Wales, Pale Rider), this can be viewed as an act of penance for the lone-wolf vigilantism of his Dirty Harry urban shoot-'em-ups: a kind of cleansed Harry. (There is no room here for Eastwood the actor, standing aside for the "liberal" casting of Sean Penn and Tim Robbins, and their highly emotional, tearful, unstoical, un-Eastwoody histrionics.) Although formulated as a murder mystery, it is not narrowly focussed on the investigation, but divides its time more or less evenly among three main characters, and expands continuously into the specific milieu, the complex personal relationships, the affected and ongoing lives, in fact life in general, life with a capital "L." All throughout, it sustains a tone of lamentation, underscored by the churchy musical theme composed by Eastwood himself (albeit orchestrated by his trusted collaborator, Lennie Niehaus). The retributive anger never supplants the sorrow; the release never comes. Admittedly, the outcome of the case depends upon a fortuitous coincidence that reeks of mystery-making for its own sake: a previously unrevealed second murder on the same night as the first. Yet the solution to the original murder is not overly tricksy, is perhaps even overly obvious; and the mood of the moment in any case is not one of parlor games and "gotcha." The honest -- the aggrieved -- the penitent -- emotionalism of the film makes up for either the fortuitousness or the obviousness, as necessary. Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Laura Linney, Marcia Gay Harden. 2003.

Winner of Golden Coach Award (Clint Eastwood) at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival
+view trailer 1 +view trailer 2

Butter @ Martini Ranch – Mondays – (Mixed)
This eclectic night is well versed in all types of good music. The music is based on quality and not Clear Channel's playlist, and is never pre-programmed. DJ Mada buying records for Access Music (www.accesshiphop.com) & Beatnick buying records for Siesta Music (www.siestamusic.com) shows their musical knowlege in each respective genre. Recent requests have included Lynyrd Skynyrd, Jamiroquai, James Brown, Mary J. Blige, Atmosphere & De La Soul. The crates run deep so don't hesitate to ask for what you want to hear. No cover and the DJ's don't bite…unless you want them to.

Wheel Up @ Thruster’s Lounge – Wednesdays - (Reggae)
Dasheye and Unite of Tribe of Kings moved their now-defunct Lion’s Share night over to PB, to cater more to the weeknight crowd that’s out near the beach. The vibe is nice and cozy, and the beats are second-to-none. Rastas even come through to drop live ragamuffin rhymes over the roots and dancehall riddims. Oh yeah, did we mention no cover?

Livin’ w/ Miles Maeda @ Shaker Room - Thursdays (House)
DC. Farina. SuperJane. Miles. SmartBar. H_F. Either you know it, or you don’t. You don’t have to be from Chicago to know what all these have in common. But you do have to have a passion for the one thing that brings them all together. HOUSE. Where did it start? Was it at the Warehouse with Frankie Knuckles? Was it at Paradise Garage with Larry Levan? House music quietly did it’s thang for more than 15 years before club culture left the gay communities and infiltrated the consciousness of America. It splintered off into a million sub-genres – tribal, techno, hard, deep – the trance explosion came and went – but through it all, house music never left, and never lost it’s soul. It doesn’t ride the waves of what’s hot or not – it simply keeps steady, just like its beat. Four to the floor, forever more. It’s the heartbeat of club culture – and no one keeps that pulse as steady as the legendary Miles Maeda. From NYC to Chicago and all the way out West, house is here to stay, and Miles is always here for us, like a warm blanket on a cold winter night.

Dragon Lounge @ Brick by Brick – First Friday of Every Month – (Drum & Bass / Breaks)
This month features drum n’ bass legend AK1200: “Named for a Soviet submachine gun the AK-47, and the one thing every DJ must own, the Technics SL-1200 turntable, AK 1200 is among the premier US junglists. Although the U.K. born dance genre has enjoyed stateside success since its emergence in the early 90s, Dave Minner (AK 1200) is one of only a handful of American based DJs to pose any challenge to the domination of their British counterparts.” With his diverse arsenal of bass-heavy rhythms, AK has created an accessible sound that has exposed drum & bass to a much wider audience. His list of accomplishments is seemingly neverending: founding and publishing Junglized magazine, throwing the first all-jungle party, also called Junglized, in 1995; holding residencies at Spundae San Fransisco and Club Firestone in Orlando; releasing a Mixed Live set on Moonshine Records, and embarking on legendary tours such as Moonshine Over America and Planet of the Drums with Dieselboy. Merge Events is proud to bring AK1200 back to their legendary, 5-year Dragon Lounge drum n’ bass monthly.

Mental @ Kadan – Friday December 12th (Techno)
Techno in Southern California? That’d be like asking about country in the ghetto. Until now! In recent months, LaLaLand has seen the likes of Richie Hawtin, Daniel Bell, Tim Xavier, Marco V and Bone, with Adam Beyer on the way. Five out of those six DJs mentioned spun at the Detroit Electronic Music Festival in 2002 – the biggest techno festival on the planet. Could that ten-foot pole that the techno titans have always used on Cali finally be shortening? If so, its due to the hard work of crews like OceanLiner, Cued-Up and Droid Behavior, with 4486 and …Of the Minds recently throwing their hands up and getting with the future as well. Oceanliner and the live PA act nominal are the ones who got the techno movement really moving in the fall of 2K3 in SD. With humble beginnings back in August, this monthly has seen steady growth, and the steady stream of passionate artists lining up to play keeps growing as well. This month is no exception, with minimal techno producer omsk information doing a live PA, along with a minimal set from LA’s Sariah Storm and SD’s Jon Baker. But watching a nominal live PA is always the special treat of the evening – if you’ve ever seen someone make live electronic music in front of your eyes, with synchronized visuals, you’ll know what I mean. At mental, the vibe is cozy and dark, the headz are friendly and informed, and the focus is on the music, the music, and the music. Sounds like a Tronic party, minus the elitism… and the cover!

Sunday Night Shakedown @ Red C Lounge – Sundays – (Hip-Hop)
Jersan, Beatnick & Solo have a Sunday night session that’s known for quality underground and proper hip hop, downtempo & all things soul. On any given Sunday you could hear Jazzanova, A Tribe Called Quest, Jeru The Damaja, Gangstarr, Roy Ayers, EPMD & Barrington Levy plus more coming out of the speakers. Many have graced the decks at this weekly including L.A.'s Presto, J. Logic, Cocoe & many of S.D.'s own talent. In little over a year this has become a staple in S.D.'s nightlife. This month guest's include Dec. 7th: Skutech, Dec. 14th: downtempo producer Presto of Mushroom Jazz 3 & his own inprint Concrete Grooves, and Dec. 28th: Danny Massure returning to SD now residing in Seattle. No cover with all this talent makes it a sin not to go.

Downtown Top Rankin’ w/ Tribe of Kings @ Shaker Room – Sundays – (Reggae)
The Tribe of Kings have a lock on local dancehall and reggae in San Diego. The crew – Unite, Jay Dred, Dasheye, Kofi, and Rashy – are all integral in making that rastaman vibration happen around San Diego. They use the energy created at Downtown Top Rankin’ to pursue their own nights around the city - Jay Dred spins neo-soul and dancehall at Red Circle Café on Thursdays, Dasheye and Unite have their Wheel-Up roots and dancehall night at Thruster’s Lounge on Wednesdays, and the whole crew gets in the mix at Shaker Room on Sunday nights. Two rooms of reggae, dancehall, roots, new riddim, and dub style – bringing people of all colors and styles together. They’ve got the hookup on all the hottest wax, courtesy of EBReggae.com – watching rastas spin 45s that come straight from the islands, you can be rest assured you’re hearing all the best mashups and remixes that are probably being rocked at the dancehalls in Kingston. Bless up and take advantage of having the best in island riddims several times a week, courtesy of the Tribe of Kings.

The Global Sound Series @ Onyx Room – Sunday, December 14th (Jazz/Lounge)
This tour-based monthly event features new styles in lounge, down beat, dub, bossa nova, and nu jazz by importing some of the worlds most innovative and acclaimed music producers to the plush confines of the Onyx Room. The 14th features the UK top nu jazz artist, Jimpster (Freerange Records - UK)

Check The Halls
Friday, December 12, 2003
Giant Robot Issue #31 Release Party and Art Show By: Chako Suzuki, “Check the Halls” Curator
Artist Deth P. Sun wishes “galleries would stop dicking [him].” Someone should cut him a break because he’s been exhibiting his artwork around the US since 1996 at places like GenArtSF, the Triple Five Soul store in New York City, and Giant Robot in Los Angeles.

Most of his paintings are of cuddly animals or gloomy kids in animal suits tainted with a dollop of heartache. His cloudy-day color palette and subject matter are reminescent of Maurice Sendak and children's book illustrations. Deth paints mostly in acrylic on wood and of his laidback style he modestly says, "I can’t give you any tips cause there’s no tips to give. Buy some acrylic paint, make a drawing, color it in.” Whatever his technique is, he's definitely doing something right; his paintings have sold out in every show he’s contributed to. The “Check the Halls” artists are all friends, which shows in their drawing styles, color pallets, and influences. Gather your funds because all artwork is for sale and not over-priced!

Check the Halls: Giant Robot Issue #31 Release Party and Art Show happens Friday, December 12, 2003, at the Cassius King Art Gallery from 6:00 pm until 12 am, and is absolutely free. The show will run until the end of December. There will be a DJ line-up and artwork to buy!

Holiday Writer's Workshop
How to craft the perfect mood, setting, and narrative line for your personal memoir, fictional story, or holiday letter
offered by author Abigail Padgett and journalist Julie Brossy. For writers of all levels. Group discussions, writing exercises, individualized critiques.

Workshop I is Monday, December 1; workshop II takes place on Monday, December 8, at Dogbeach Dogwash meeting room (4933 Voltaire). Hours: 7 to 9 p.m. $50. Reservations: 619-546-4204.

For Those Affected by Recent Fires
Book artist Renee Richetss offers beginning bookbinding class -- without charge for materials or class time -- Sunday, December 7, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Arts College International (840 G Street). Attendees learn Japanese stab stitch to make original hardcover journal. Registration is required by December 4. 619-231-3900.

Create an Origami Ornament when Hisae Batchelder leads class, Saturday, December 13, 10:30 a.m., at Japanese Friendship Garden. Nonmember fee: $15. Registration: 619-232-2721

Liquidamber Trees, or sweet gums, the deciduous trees gracing front yards, parks, and campuses throughout the San Diego area, have been putting on an exceptionally colorful show. The leaves of some varieties turn to purple or red; the leaves of other varieties fade to golden yellow. Other varieties hold on to their green leaves until sometime in December. Most liquidambers in our area regain their light green foliage by late February.

Rainbow Season arrives with the first rains of late fall. Scattered showers are best for rainbow watching: sunlight refracting and reflecting through the raindrops causes two bows to appear -- an intense circular arc at 42°, and a bigger but weaker arc at 51° from the antisolar point (the point in the sky diametrically opposed to the sun's position). From November through mid-February, the sun never gets higher than 42° above the horizon as seen from San Diego, so (rain and sunlight permitting) the brighter of the two arcs may appear above the horizon at any time of day. In spring and summer, rainbows are never seen in the sky around midday because the sun is too high -- and the antisolar point is too low.

Del Mar Fairgrounds
Holiday of Lights
"The largest...display of seasonal festive lights in San Diego," with holiday-themed displays Thursday, November 27, through Sunday, January 4, 2004.

Hours are 5:30 to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; 5:30 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Admission: $11 per vehicle (up to five people), $16 per vehicle with six or more people. Tickets available through Ticketmaster (619-220-TIXS). Information: 858-793-5555.

Museum of Contemporary Art
Heal the World with Duct Tape
Hey, don’t laugh—a series of moderately successful books have been dedicated to the sticky, monochromatic, magic tape and its myriad uses. OK, so maybe world peace is as yet beyond duct tape’s powers, but we can still celebrate the reasons for the season in its spirit. At the monthly art-hipster convention, MoCA’s Thursday Night Thing, the newest subject of the museum’s Cerca Series opens with Wendell Gladstone, a Los Angeles artist who creates paintings and sculptures using masking tape as templates for his designs. His creations, explicated by a Q&A with the artist facilitated by assistant curator Rachel Teagle, should inspire you with their use of tape (masking, electrical, blue—but alas, no duct) as the gift-wrapping season ramps up. Also, check out local electronica blipsters Champagne Kiss upstairs and rockers Reeve Oliver outside. Suggested donation is $3, as usual. (www.mocasd.org)

Alex Webb: Crossings -- Photographs from the U.S.-Mexico Border
Photographer Alex Webb has spent more than 25 years covering the Mexican border. includes 40 photographs documenting Webb's coverage of border life since the 1970s. Closes Sunday, December 7.

Find the museum at 1001 Kettner Boulevard (at Broadway), directly across from the Santa Fe Railroad Depot, adjacent to the America Plaza trolley transfer station. 619-234-1001. (Downtown)

San Diego Museum of Art
Partners of the Soul: African Art of the Baule
45 objects from the UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History and private collectors. The Show explores complex ways in which art functioned in Baule culture and society (Ivory Coast of West Africa) through a display of spirit spouse figures, portrait masks, miniature amulet figures, mouse oracles, wooden strikers. Through Sunday, January 4, 2004.

Tradition and Innovation in European Modernist Drawings and Watercolors
35 works rarely on view due to their fragility. Artists include Paul Klee, Franz Marc, Emil Nolde, Paul Signac, Marc Chagall. See this show of works from the museum's collection through Sunday, December 14.

Paintings, sculptures, prints, videos, and photographs inspired by elements in nature are gathered in Of Earth and Sky: Elements in Abstraction, closing Sunday, December 14.

The Later Mughals: Theaters of Power presents more than 20 seldom-seen images telling the story of the waning of India's greatest dynasty. Through Sunday, January 25, 2004.

For further information, call 619-232-7931

Museum of Photographic Arts
The Discerning Eye: Southern California Collects
Celebrates 20 photography collectors to commemorate the museum's 20th anniversary; show closes Saturday, January 3, 2004.

Also on view, "Collector's Group Acquisitions," concluding Sunday, December 14.

Find the museum in the Casa de Balboa building, at 1649 El Prado; 619-238-7559.

Mingei International Museum of Folk Art
Origami Masterworks
Innovative Forms of the Art of Paper Folding," on view through Sunday, February 8, 2004, includes more than 150 pieces by 42 artists from across the globe. Most of the objects were created by folding single sheets of paper to make geometrical forms, flowers, trees, people, masks, and a menagerie of animals.

Mingei of Japan -- The Legacy of Its Founders -- Soetsu Yanagi, Shoji Hamada, and Kanjiro Kawai
A an exhibition of objects from the museum's collection by known and unknown craftsmen from throughout Japan continues until January 25, 2004. Included: tansu (Japanese chests), pottery, calligraphy, woodblock prints, stencil work, kimono and other textiles, baskets, toys.

The Mingei is located on the square with the San Diego Museum of Art and the Timken Museum of Art. 619-239-0003. (Balboa Park)

Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, La Jolla
Manny Farber: About Face
Celebrates the life and work of one of San Diego's most important visual artists, with work from the early 1960s to present. Farber has contributed to American cultural discourse for more than 50 years as both film and art critic and painter. Closes Sunday, January 4, 2004.

Find the museum at 700 Prospect Street. 858-454-3541. (La Jolla)